Hi, Benjamin - 
I wrote this book without really thinking about it as a story of collapse and apocalypse - although, of course, you're right. Partly the fascination for me is the atmosphere; it's like a Western, all frontier and no rules. At the same time, I'm intrigued by the way in which our governments act as if consequences are out of fashion. Tony Blair, who was my Prime Minister while I was writing The Gone-Away World, was very fond of saying "We're drawing a line under this now, it's finished." And the thing is, nothing is ever finished. History doesn't stop. I wanted a story which would reach through decades, which is the way the world really seems to work for me. 
So there was that, and at the same time, I wanted a world where anything was possible, because I wanted to have some fun. The real world is frustrating - too often, the interesting possibility turns out to be the wrong one. I wanted a world which was dangerous, overblown, exciting, appealing, horrible. 
And then, of course, alongside all the fun, I wanted to say my little bit about evil and how it happens, what it is. Or at least, what it is sometimes. How does the world get in such a mess? And the mess in the book is... huge. You *have* to ask what happened, because whatever it was was really bad. Too often, we don't ask: how on Earth are we in this appalling place? (Frequently because someone has said: "We're drawing a line under this now.")
The great thing about novels is that you can direct the reader's attention, as you suggest. But I can't tell you, in the end, what exactly I wanted to say. Because that's what the book is!
 
NH

 I know what you mean about information overload (although I actually had information underload today, if that's possible - I had no internet access until about an hour ago and I wanted to gnaw off my own leg) and yes, I'd absolutely say the book is a nice antidote to that - although I can't guarantee that it will send you to sleep at night. There have been a few cases of people staying up late to read one more page... and then another and another...
I told one of the UK newspapers I wanted to jeopardise UK productivity with this book, make people take days off to finish it. It never quite go that bad (I'm pleased to say - there's a recession on anyway) but a few people have admitted privately that they lied to their boss about being sick...
Info overload is something I'm a little intrigued by. It was going to feature in my next book, but somehow it got sidelined... the story took over.
 
 

 Hi, Michelle - 
The most remarkable thing has been the way people respond to the book. They fall in love with the people, they boo at the villains. Several people have told me they still haven't forgiven one of the characters for something they do in the story. And overall, the messages and so on that I get are just... it's genuinely humbling. I know everyone says that and it sounds hollow, but truly: the amount of emotion and energy which The Gone-Away World generates in the readers is huge, and it makes me feel as if I did something which is bigger than I am.